Speeches by Woodcock.

“The shadow Minister talks about a stop-start approach from this Government. I find that a bit brass neck, to be frank, considering the record of the previous Government, who shifted the dates and forced all sorts of investment with regard to EVs. I welcome the measure. As part of the just transition, it is important to…”

“We have heard from Opposition Members that there are families watching this Finance Bill Committee with their bags packed in case their amendment does not pass. Does the Minister share my scepticism that people who hung around through a botched Brexit, Liz Truss and 11% inflation will leave the country on the basis of …”

“I have to say that I find the bleating from the Conservative party—which delayed elections in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset, as well as in several other areas named by the Secretary of State—pretty astounding. As welcome as the reforms are, they are taking up considerable time and capacity for local au…”

“Can the Minister confirm that the deal provides certainty and full operational use of the base for 99 years?”

“As an alumnus of the University of Birmingham and former resident of Selly Oak, I have found this whole saga pretty astonishing from the start. We have had mistake after mistake and evidence that turned out to have been made up, and meanwhile the bond of trust with our Jewish community, which had already been under inc…”

“That is very helpful, thank you. Minister, in terms of the three that ended up being the preferred—or the “most promising” I think is the term that has been used—from those 12, how did you get to those three and what methodology and criteria were at the forefront?”

“Sir Michael, you have touched on it already but I am after a bit more detail about how those 12 were chosen. Like I said, you have touched on it a little bit but could you go into what data you used and some of the other calculations?”

“Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury, and part of the Heyford site is in my constituency as well.”

“All the local authorities where the sites are said, “We are happy for this to be put forward”?”

“This is one point of clarification for Sir Michael. You stated that, rightly, you focused on those that put forward the sites but that you did contact on the list of 12 the local authorities to say, “Do you have any problem with this going forward?” Can I take from that that no local authorities of that 12 objected to …”

“I pay tribute to the people who have taken to the streets of Iran, particularly in the face of industrial-scale violence and repression from this regime, as the Foreign Secretary stated. However, given the malign influence of Iran in the region, which she has acknowledged, and the risk it poses to British citizens, par…”

“As far as Government are concerned, these 12 are, to any relatively neutral impartial observer, the best in terms of the criteria set out by Sir Michael?”

“Clearly, there are a lot of stakeholders involved in this, as Sir Michael has talked about, the various groups involved in pitching sites. Are you confident—there is clearly going to be an agenda behind all those—that political interference is minimal in terms of pushing a lot of that forward?”

“No, they have not.”

“Nearly 11,000 homes in Cherwell district have been granted planning permission but remain unbuilt. This causes understandable frustration for local residents and the thousands of people in housing need. Will the Minister set out what action the Government are taking to improve build-out so that much-needed homes are bu…”

“5. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Banbury.”

“I am very proud to be the Member of Parliament for Banbury, where I was born and grew up. I am keenly aware that I am the MP not just for that town. I am proud to represent the small towns of Chipping Norton and Charlbury, as well as the villages and countryside of north Oxfordshire. Many people in those places put the…”

“I echo the sentiments of my hon. Friend’s predecessor. The farmers in my constituency know that the Conservative party allowed food inflation to reach 19.1%, while they continued to suffer from unfair market practices from supermarkets that prospered, rather than the farmers themselves prospering. They know the Conserv…”

“Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.”

“Just on the abolition of stamp duty, there is a suggestion that while it might stimulate some transactions it does not fundamentally transform things, in the sense that what you are doing is putting more money in the pockets of the same people who are buying the houses; it does not open up the market to a wider range o…”